


Slice of Life #5

by kinfic2



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 18:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5637805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinfic2/pseuds/kinfic2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Confrontation can be the catalyst for reconciliation<br/>Could be a gap filler for Ep.301</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slice of Life #5

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my LJ in 2009

BRIAN:

  
      I should have been a bigger person and uttered some flimsy excuse with my usual aplomb. Had I stayed home with a bottle of Beam or gone out to fuck, it would have been a more pleasant and decorous occasion for everyone. Hell, anything would have been better than making an appearance at that fucking party. I’m pretty sure the munchers had high expectations I wouldn’t show and were secretly overjoyed at the thought. Lindsay would have understood, I think. Mel? Given a choice between eating glass and pretending to be human—no contest on that one.  
  
      Most important, my conspicuous absence would have had the added bonus of fulfilling everyone’s sanctimonious opinion of me, satisfying their inner glee at my supposed woeful situation. How could anyone pass up a deal like that? Two swipes at Kinney for the price of one, a double play. It’s not difficult measuring up to low expectations when you’ve had alot of practice, when your own are even lower.  
  
      _Look at him! He's so sad without his Sunshine.  
      The selfish bastard has no one to blame but himself.  
      But he seems lost.  
      Serves him right! He could have prevented it. It wouldn't have taken much—for a normal person with feelings._  
  
      I shouldn't have allowed my inebriated brain to make the decision for me, but I didn't have a choice. There was a good chance he would be here _with him,_ and I was too weak to do it alone. I couldn't be my usual charismatic, uncaring, and scornful self without help. I couldn't pretend that seeing him wasn't a punch in the gut. Because it was.  
  
****Poor Brian Kinney!**  
**Night and day he slaves away up and down until he’s numb.**  
**He doesn’t rest and doesn’t eat. He doesn’t touch a crumb.**  
**On he plods against all odds.**  
**Oh, poor Brian Kinney! ******  
  
** lyrics paraphrased from My Fair Lady ©Lerner/Lowe                                                        

  
JUSTIN:  
  
      I didn’t want to go to the party with Ethan. Brian would be there, and I didn’t want to make an awkward situation more awkward. That’s why I tried to give Mel and Lindsay my gift ahead of time, but they refused to accept it and used their combined powers of persuasion to change my mind. Their words of support and friendship reassured me, so I grudgingly agreed to go.  
  
      But despite their good intentions and well-meaning phrases, I'd still feel like the outsider. The guests were _their_ friends—Brian's friends. Even worse, I was now branded with an an abstract scarlet letter.  
  
      From the beginning, I've had this weird notion that I "borrowed" Brian from everyone, including himself. I don't know why. Maybe the age difference was a bigger deal than I wanted to admit or maybe it was because they all knew each other for so long before I arrived. I haven't figured it out.  
  
      To complicate matters, I took Michael's unsubtle suggestion to disappear at face value and quit my job at the diner. I'll be honest. I took the coward's way out and left on a day when Deb wasn't working. I didn't have the guts to face her. Things are difficult enough without her questions and advice. Or her disappointment and sympathy.  
  
      How could I tell her that every time Brian walked in, the makeshift band-aid on my heart shredded into pieces and the wound bled a little more? I couldn't. I've made it a point to ignore those feelings. I was with Ethan now.


End file.
